Dep
by Alice in wonderland with Percy
Summary: (Update Chapter7!) Ryoga gets depressed...Akane tries to help...read to find out the rest! Rated for swearing and fluffs. ARA RYOC
1. Default Chapter

Ok, ok, this is the first fic I've ever written, in the past I have only edited and read fics, plz, only constructive criticism...^_^ ;....so yeah on with the fiction! (P.S.: Kami is the guardian of earth, for those who don't know) ---------------------------------------------  
Akane was sitting by the canal she and Ranma went to sit by when they needed to think, she had moved under the bridge after the rain had started pouring down. Tears were running down her face and sobs raked through her body as she sat on the ground, looking at the rippling surface of the water.  
  
*How...how can he feel like this all the time? I just, I feel like I have no place in the world, that nobody could ever love me...and that...that my presence in other people's lives is only a burden for others... Kami, I feel numb..someone please help me...or...or I'm afraid that I...I might just end it all here..Goddamn it I can take this!*  
  
Akane rolled into a tight ball, the emotional pain becoming too much. She fell asleep right there under the bridge, her dreams full of despair. ---------------------------------------------------  
Ryoga was feeling much the same at that point in time, numb. He couldn't feel Ranma's punches, he couldn't feel Ranma's kicks, and...  
  
*Thank Kami I can't hear what he's saying...*  
  
All that he knew was that he had hurt the only person he had ever cared about in all of his life...Akane...  
  
*I should have stayed away from here! I should never have come back!*  
  
Yet another punch lodged itself into his gut, this one so deeply that it snapped him out of his trance of self pity. Ryoga fell heavily to his knees, his hands hanging limply at his sides. He could feel the pain running through him, he basked in it, knowing that he deserved it.  
  
"Goddamn it, Ryoga!! You will pay for what you did! Mark my words!"  
  
And with that Ranma kicked him hard in the gut, the exact same place as before, for maximum pain. Ryoga fell to his side, staring out into space. Ranma removed his schoolbag from his back and threw it hard at Ryoga, rewarded by a grunt of pain, then kicked him again and again, each time harder than the last.  
  
***flashback***  
  
Akane had been on her way to school, she had had a fight with Ranma that morning, so she had left early. Ranma left right after Akane, and followed her, not wanting to be seen because he was still smarting a huge bump on his head from that mallet of hers, and didn't want another.  
He had seen her stop running and go down another street, curious, he followed her and immediately saw what had interested her. Ryoga was sitting tensely at a bench in the park, his eyes closed and his hands clenched tight. Ranma's eyes shot open...  
  
*Shit! Akane better get away quick! He's about to do his Shi-Shi Hokadon technique, she could get caught in it!*  
  
Ranma had tried toreach her to warn her, but he was too late...Ranma would always remember the look of horror in Ryoga's face when he saw that Akane would be caught in the blast.  
  
Something strange happened just as Akane touched Ryoga's shoulder. Ranma thought that there would be an explosion, that Akane would be severely injured, but no. A shudder went through Akane's body and her eyes snapped open wide, she sunk down to her knees ans slowly moved her hands up to her face, looking at the ground as if she were in a trance. Her hands suddenly shot up to the sides of her head as if it were about to explode, she shut her eyes tight and let out a scream of pain, "ahh! What...what's happening to..to me...my...my head..I feel...". "Ryoga! What did you do to Akane!?" Ranma yelled running toward Ryoga.  
  
**end flashback**  
  
Ranma suddenly came back to reality. He felt the change spread through him as the rain started pouring down on his body. He turned away from Ryoga and looked to the spot where Akane had been kneeling down that was now vacant and wet.  
  
*...Hey, where did she run off to...?*  
  
He looked around and saw no sign of her.He looked at P-chan lying on the muddy ground. He sighed and picked the pig up off of the ground.  
  
*He's not dead...but he could have been if the rain didn't wake me up and make me realize what I was doing. I'll just get him to some cover and then I'll go look for Akane...*  
  
Ranma went over to the small hut that was a little way away and put the pig down.  
  
*He'll be ok, hes built like a Sherman tank he'll come to in no time. Now to find that psychotic fiancé of mine...I hope she's alright.*  
  
Then Ranma set off to find Akane, knowing that he wouldn't be able to rest until he found her. ------------------------------------------------------------ hehe, so how was it? Good, bad, horrible?? Lol the end was a bit corny but I hope the rest wasn't too bad. I LOVE YOU ALL!!!!! -Jo 


	2. Black Out

Thank you all so much! I didnt get one flame! not one! yay! *does a lil happy dance*......*someone coughs in the background* oh yeah, anyway I had originally planned to make this fic a one-shot, but I found that the story needed more than one chapter to develop fully. Thank you again to everyone who encouraged me to continue!  
  
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Ranma 1/2.....i wish i did but ....i don't...*sniff*  
  
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There were voices, voices speaking far way, too far for Akane to hear. She strained to hear them but couldn't...how she wanted to hear what those voices were saying. Her curiosity drove her forward, but every time she took a step, the voices seemed to get farther away. She began to run, wanting, needing to hear what those misterious voices were saying. As she ran a voice inside her head kept repeating;  
  
*You are never going to make it,  
You are never going to hear what they are saying,  
You are never going to make it...*,  
  
Akane began to get angry and frustrated that she couldn't hear what they were saying, that anger gave her a burst of strength. She began to hear what the mysterious voices were saying, but she only heard small bits of the comversation,just enough to give her an idea of what they were talking about.  
  
"Ryoga.....you pervert....my fiancé.......pig!" a voice that sounded exactly like Ranma said.  
  
"...not.......fault.....her fiancé.....inapreciative........" Ryoga's voice rung through the empty blackness surrounding her.  
  
The further Akane ran the louder and more emotional the voices became. *I don't need to here this, I hear it almost everyday. I don't understand why I'm-*  
  
"Then look down" , she heard an unidentified voice tell her.  
  
"Wha-?" She said as she looked down at the floor, *or the floor that was a floor* she thought as the looked down at the empty space below her. She panicked as she started to fall, what would happen to her when she hit the ground?  
  
The emotion soon left her as images began popping up all around her, like flat TV screens lighting up the darkness around her. She recognised some of these images. Some of them were scenes of her and P-chan, the first time that she met him, all of the times that she had protected him from Ranma. Others depicted scenes from the many fights Ryoga had had with Ranma over the years, but most of the images she did'nt recognise. There was one image that popped up almost as many times as the scenes of her and p-chan, an image of a sweet looking girl around her age, who always seemed to be in the presence of a huge pig.  
  
Her observations were interrupted by a feeling that quickly spread through her whole body. She suddenly felt soaking wet and freezing cold, she bagan to shiver and wrapped her arms around herself. The sound of rushing water came from below and when she looked down she saw to her horror that there was a twisting, turning, flowing mass of water below her and she estimated that she had about 10 seconds until she was submerged in very cold looking water.  
  
"I can't swim! I dont want to drown!" She screamed aloud as the shut her eyes tight, preparing herself for impact, but instead of being eveloped stageringly cold water, she felt arms wrap her up tightly. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see a pair of deep blue eyes staring back at her.  
  
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YAY! im done another chapter!! *starts dancing around happily* ^_^; okok no more dancing, im tired...anyway, I hope you like it! I STILL LOVE YOU ALL!!! -Jo 


	3. A Rude Awakening

Hey guys! I just wanted to tell all you comfused reader that: *clears throat* I haven't seen all of the Ranma 1/2 episodes, so I wasn't sure if Akane and Akari had ever met, so lets just pretend that they never have. Also, I know my chapters are short, and all y'all are bein' very sweet n all for not complaining, so thx! (It'll get better, I'm pretty confident that once the story starts getting a lil more pronouced in my brain that I'll get better at writing longer chapters...or not ^_^;) So yeah, enough mindless ranting and on with the story! :P  
  
Disclaimer: I do not onw anything!! Not even the speck of dust on Ranma's nose...although I'm pretty sure I could have it if I asked....hey...good idea....o.o  
  
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"I can't swim! I don't want to drown!" She screamed aloud as the shut her eyes tight, preparing herself for impact, but instead of being eveloped staggeringly cold water, she felt arms wrap her up tightly. She opened her eyes and was surprised to see a pair of deep blue eyes staring back at her.  
  
"R-ranma?", Akane said shakily, unsure if it was a dream or not.  
  
"Akane? What were you screaming about? Jeez, with that voice of yours you could shatter a pane of bullet proof glass, and what in Kami's name are you doing out here in the rain, shouldn't you be at home? I mean, only an idiot falls asleep in the pouring r-...wha-?"Ranma stopped ranting as Akane pushed away from and began crying again.  
  
Ranma watched her body shake with sobs, feeling completely at a loss at what to do. He stared at her, she was kneeling down on the damp floor, her knees a little scratched. Her back was hunched forward , her face craddled in her hands, curtained by a mass of very wet, dirty hair that was clumped up and . He couldn't help dying a little inside, she needed comfort and instead of giving it he had insulted her.  
  
*I have to do something, she's soaking wet and she's cold as ice, I have to get her home so she can take a bath or something.*  
  
With that thought, Ranma moved forward, and attempted to pick her up, but just as he touched her she took her head out of her hands and looked at his hatefully. As she looked at him he saw how dirt smeared and puffy her face was, it made him want to kill himself, seeing her like that...and it hurt even more knowing that the hate in her eyes was meant for him.  
  
"Don't.....touch....me,...you touch me......and you die" Akane said, filling every syllable with a feeling of deep, deep loathing.  
  
Ranma flinched , the hate in her voice, it wasn't like Akane, it just wasn't her to hate someone so much over just a simple insult, and he hadn't really meant it at all, he never did....he would never try to hurt her like that.  
  
*I can't bring myself to tell her, though, I know that she needs to hear it. Anyway, she needs to get home, so I'll take her there whether she likes it or not.*  
  
He forcefully grabbed her in his arms, forcefully but carefully. Akane screamed and bit him weakly as he lifted her off the ground, and began to struggle, kicking the air maddly. She momentarily slipped out of Ranma's grasp, but he soon cought her again, this time holding her tight against him so that she could barely move, but she didn't give up, she continued to wiggle around and scream at the top of her lungues.  
  
*Jeez, she never gives up, man, and the way she's screaming someone'll think I'm hurting her and call the police, damn.*, Ranma thought.  
  
*Who the hell does he think he is?! How dare he do this to me!!*, thought Akane.  
  
"Akane, I don't wanna do this, but I have to get you home." Ranma lay her back on the ground and ripped a long strip from his shirtand gagged her with it. Akane looked on, eyes wide, terrified and extremely pissed off. Ranma picked her up again , this time she was too stunned to move. Also, she was completely exausted, her muscles ached and all she wanted to do was go to sleep. Her anger evaporated as the warmth of Ranma's body engulfed her in a thick haze of sleepyness.  
  
Akane woke up about five minutes later, woken by the terrified and enraged voice of Soun Tendo.  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY! WHY IS SHE GAGGED?! YOU WILL DIE FOR HURTING HER!!", Soun screamed, turning into the blood cudleing monster that was one of the only things Ranma was scared of.  
  
------------------------------ Jo: Hey Romiko, can I have the speck of dust on Ranma's face?? Rumiko:.....ummmm i guess..... Jo: Hurray!!! *Jumps around happily* (aaanyway.....) Heehee don't you hate cliffhangers? I only put them in there to make yáll want to read on, to keep u interested, so don't hate 'kay? Anyway....if you're wondering if my love for you all has wavered....I WILL LOVE ALL OF MY FANS UNTIL THE DAY I DIE!!! WUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!! o.o....T_T hey! come back here! I am not insane! Nooooooo!! My fans are leaving me!!! Noooo!!! *runs after them*......*Percy and Dee walk in* Dee: ummmm..... Percy: wuahahaha! the stage is ours!! Dee: yay! *jumps around* Percy:....*looks around* its kinda creapy around here.........all alone...............*runs off* Dee: Hey! wait for me!! *Runs after Percy* 


	4. Mixed and Muddled

Hey guys! I'm really sorry it took so long, theres been too much stuff blocking my mind from thinking. Anyway, I'll explain what Ryoga did to Akane with his Shi Shi Hokadon technique next chapter me thinks, I wanted this one to be fluffy...heehee fluff...I really, really apreciate all of you for reviewing me...It makes a writer pround of her work to know that people apreciate it! ^_^ (...eww...the mouth is too big...hmm..) ^-^ (o.o...looks like a frog....uhh nvm) I'll see you all at the end of the chapter! ,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,  
  
"WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO MY BABY! WHY IS SHE GAGGED?! YOU WILL DIE FOR HURTING HER!!", Soun screamed, turning into the blood curdling monster that was one of the only things Ranma was scared of.  
  
As the memories of the past hour came back to her, Akane let out a muffled scream and began struggling anew. Mr. Tendo streaked forward and took Akane out of Ranma's arms and brought her inside. As soon as Akane was placed on the ground and ungagged she clenched her fights, looked to the ground, shaking with anger, and when it became too much she yelled,  
  
"RANMA YOU PERVERT! DON'T YOU DARE COME NEAR ME EVER AGAIN!!"  
  
Ranma cringed involuntarily but recovered quickly, replying angrily, "WHAT WAS I SUPPOSED TO DO! I couldn't just let you stay there and freeze to death now could I?! Maybe if you weren't such a stupid idiot you would have come home straight away instead of falling asleep by the freakin' canal! I mean, what did-" Ranma was cut off by Mr. Tendo bursting into tears.  
  
"Why...why must they hate each other?!" he sobbed.  
  
"Ranma,", said Kasumi louder than usual in order to shut everybody up, "leave Akane alone, I'm going to take her upstairs to get her washed up and into a hot tub, you stay down here and keep quiet", Kasumi continued quietly, with just a twinge of irritation in her voice.  
  
The group parted for Akane and Kasumi as they headed upstairs. Everybody just stood there, watching them go upstairs. The silence was like a thick layer of mist, and as the sound of the bathroom door closing came from upstairs it was as if a gust of wind had blown the mist away. Everybody turned to Ranma and in unition yelled at him,  
  
"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!!!??"  
  
Kasumi's head peeked out from the bathroom and glared at them.....Everybody shut up....Kasumi disapeared once again into the bathroom.  
  
Everybody listened quietly as Ranma told them what had happened. The anger and confusion lowered somewhat, but they were all still mad at him.  
  
"I must comend you Saotome, nobody has ever made my sister that mad before, it must have taken alot of work" Nabiki said dryly.  
  
"No actually, her temper is such that it wasn't......uhh i mean......." Ranma began to start offending Akane again but turned his head just in time to see Mr. Tendo's aura start to glow around him.  
  
By this point, Soun was only one thing......SCARIER THAN THE TELETUBIES DOING THEIR BYE-BYE SONG (\O.O/). His aura was black, and it was kind of wierd seeing something black glow, but somehow, it managed...startleingly well at that. A few of Soun's hairs were standing up and his eyes......his eyes were bloodshot and his pupils were so big you could hardly see any white at all.  
  
*Oh...ho-HOLY CRAP!!* Ranma ran outside before Soun could do anything.Phychotic.. *What's wrong with me!? Why can't I be nice to her for once? I always have to go and insult her at every chance I get! I mean, it's not like I want to insult her, or that I really think those things that I say about her a true...* He ran down the streets, they were covered in mud and now and then he stepped in a puddle, getting his pants wet and covered in mud. As he reached the canal he slowed down and caught his breath, then the self-repulsive feelings flowed over him once again, almost chocking him.  
  
*I'm such an ass!* He began to punch the solid surface of the bridge. His hands were slightly numb, so he didn't really notice the pain. He kept punching the bridge, over and over, until he noticed that something red was covering the now chipped surface of the stone face of the bridge. He looked at his knuckles, red blood dripped to the ground as he stood there. His mind was blank, and he felt numb from the cold. All he could do was stand there and watch the small red drops fall to the ground, making silent explosions as they hit the ground. *Akane.*  
  
Everything seemed to be a blur from then on. He walked home in a trance, Soun was still sobbing his head off. He went up the stairs, Akane was in her room. He knocked at the door and heard the usual "WHAT?!" he mumbled some apologies and trudged to his room. Even though it was before supper, and the sun was just setting, he was just so tired...  
  
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*Akane's POV (point of view)*  
  
Akane was still in shock at what had just happened. *RANMA? Apologize?! IMPOSSIBLE!!* She went downstairs for supper only to notice that he wasn't there. When she asked Kasumi were he was, she told Akane that he was asleep in his room. *He's missing supper as well!? He must be sick.* After eating she got up and went to his room. He was snoring loudly, and when the light from the hallway beamed into the room he rolled onto his side, facing away from the door. She crept over to him, he had obviously poured a kettle of hot water over himself, because he was once again a boy. He shifted a bit as she kneeled by his side. She noticed something red and shiny on his shirt...it seemed to be coming from....*His knuckles! Oh god what did he do to himself?!* Akane hurried to the bathroom and got a cloth with a bowl of warm water. She laid them there beside his and rushed downstairs to ask Kasumi when the first aid kit was, then brought that to Ranma's room as well. She walked in and closed the door behind her.  
  
Akane walked over and knelt beside him. She looked him over and noted with a frown how damp and dirty his clothes were. Akane wet the cloth and gently held Ranma's hand in hers. When she touched his hand with the wet cloth, she had expected him to flinch in pain, but he remained asleep. *He must really be exausted, he's completely out cold*, she thought worriedly. She continued to clean his hand, noticing how big his hand was, and rough. When she moved to the other side of him to be able to get at his other hand Ranma started to whimper, but he stopped as she held his hand again. *...that was wierd...* she thought, looking at him, worried. When she was finished cleaning his hands she wrapped then in gauz. As she got up to leave Ranma opened his eyes, they were glissening slightly, and said hoarsly,  
  
"Thanks 'Kane"  
  
"Your welcome...", Akane said smiling sweetly.  
  
Then Ranma gave her that smile...that smile that made her heart go all fluttery, and she got up to leave.  
  
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*Ranma's POV*  
  
He walked slowly to his room. He was so tired and his mind was full of shit, he couldn't think. He didn't bother getting changed, heck, he didn't have the strength to, he simply colapsed on his futon, then, he was in a completely different world...  
  
He saw Akane lying on the ground again, he rushed forward to help her up, but when he touched her she got up and her image flickered.  
  
"Don't......" She said angrily, and her image flickered again. This time as her image flickered it was replaced by Ryoga's image, just for a second though.  
  
"A-Akane, I didn't mean all of those things...", he stuttered, looking at her pleadingly, and a little bit confused because of what had just happened..  
  
"Don't try to-" Her image flickered again and Ryoga's body replaced hers again, "-try to apologize Ranma", Ryoga continued. "Ryoga! What did you do to her? What the hell is going on?!" Ranma yelled as white hot flames flowed through his veins.  
  
"Ranma....you are so lucky...but...you are too stupid to notice what you-" Ryoga's image flickered again and Akane's body came back in place, "- what you really have, I would do anything to have her love me like she loves you..." Akane said as tears filled her eyes. "WHY CAN'T YOU ACCEPT HER LOVE FOR YOU?! WHY CAN'T YOU TRY TO MAKE HER HAPPY, YOU, THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN?!?!" Akane screamed, her fists clutching at her sides.  
  
Ranma stared at her, thouroughly flabbergasted (A/N: heehee, flabbergasted, I love that word...heehee).  
  
His knuckles started to sting a bit and he woke up, opening his eyes slightly. He saw Akane kneeling down beside his, cleaning his cut hands. He looked up at her face and his heart melted, she was so beautiful... Her hands felt so good...when she let go of his hands he couldn't help but let out a whimper. She looked worriedly into his face, he closed his eyes just in time and acted like he were asleep once again. In a few seconds Ranma was releaved to feel her hands on his other one.  
  
*....wait....why is she doing this for me? After I did all those things to her...maybe she really does care about m-...no what am I thinking, Mr. Tendo probably told her to do this...How could she ever care for someone like me...God I'm such a bastard!* He thought as tears started to form in his eyes.  
  
As Akane finished wrapping his hands she started to get up. Ranma opened his eyes and said hoarsly,  
  
"Thanks 'Kane"  
  
"Your welcome..." Akane replied, smiling sweetly.  
  
As she smiled Ranma felt his heart soar, *maybe she does care..*, and he smiled back at her.  
  
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YAY!! heehee cliffhangerish ending, sorry guys! (isn't really sorry, but feels their pain) Aaaanyway, I would like to give some credit to my dear friend Percy, we did some colaboration work, you can see some of my writing in the third chapter of "Unconcious Decisions", her escaflowne fic. I just wanted to clarify a few things, Persy, Dee and I have a joined account, this story is all my own writing, with some help from Dee and Percy. I tried to make this chapter longer than the others, just to give you guys a treat....but at some point I just have to stop and see if you all like it! so.....I LOVE YOU ALL.....STILL!!! heehee...AND IF YOU WANT ME TO CONTINUE TO LOVE YOU YOU WILL REVIEW!!! ^_^ (ugh! I hate this font!...hmmm do you think I can change it? Please tell me! I'm all confuseled! ^_^;) 


	5. Nuriko Who?

Yay! I love talking to all of you about my chapters, so...this is what happened to Ryoga during all this time, it prolly should have tooken place a chapter ago but hey *shrug*. Oh yeah, to all who read and don't review.... IF I DON'T GET AT LEAST 5 REVIEWS FOR THIS CHAPTER, I WILL NOT CONTINUE....I just don't see the point if nobody is reading it.... Also, if what I write doesn't fit perfectly with the facts about who met who and who knows what about who, forgive me, I haven't read all of the mangas. Hmm.... ,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,  
  
It was hot...and stuffy, very stuffy. He found it hard to breath, the air was so thick. He was lying on his side, on what he didn't know, all he could distinguish was that it was hard. He couldn't see anything, his eyes were closed but he couldn't open them, the lids were too heavy. To his relief the air gradually got cooler. Eventually, he noticed that side of his body that was touching the ground felt damp. When Ryoga was finally able to open his eyes, number one he saw was a pile of his clothes lying a few meters away on the muddy ground, and two, he was a pig.  
  
*How did I get here.....oh...no, no, no, no, no!*, Ryoga thought as the memories of the past few hours burst back into his mind. The lone pig stood up shakily and painstakingly slowly, he started walking toward his bag. P-chan placed his kettle onto the heating stand and lit a small fire underneath it.  
  
As the water heated he thought about all of the things that had happened, *I always mess up like this....I should never have come back here, Akane probably hates my guts now....* he thought, then sighed dispairingly. Once the water was heated he placed himself in his discarded clothes and poured it over himself, miraculously, as he changed his clothes slipped onto him, and he just had to tug them a little to get them in place properly. As he stood up he looked himself over, he had cuts and bruises all over. He was pretty sure he didn't have any broken bones thanks to his training with cologne. He put on his pack and started heading towards the exit of the park.  
  
Suddenly he head a female voice say, "Hey, dude, where are you going?", somewhere behind him. Ryoga spun around, he was now standing face- to-face with a girl about an inch shorter than him, who was around his age.  
  
Her face was framed with straight, jet black hair that reached down to her waist, a large contrast with the girls pale face. Her eyes were deep purple, with splatters of dark red in them, they were the strangest eyes Ryoga had ever seen, but by far the most intriguing. Her nose was small, and her lips were painted a light pink color. The girl was wearing a dark blue denim jacket and a black slightly fitting shirt with some wierd white circle shaped sign on the front with a few lines going through it...it looked something like a grotesque spiderweb. She was wearing dark blue jeans which matched the jacket, and her belt was beige and at least 2 inches wide. She carried a duffle bag on her shoulder, it looked pretty worn.  
  
From his constant journeying, he had witnessed some pretty strangely dressed people, but this girl had to be one of the strangest.  
  
"What are you staring at?", the girl said, slightly disturbed by the fact that Ryoga had been staring at her for the past minute.  
  
"Uhh, nothing.", Ryoga said, turning red.  
  
"Eh, thats ok, I'm used to it, thats what you get for being original.", the girl said, sighing, then added, "So...I saw you before...you were like...a pig.....and now you're a guy....that was like....wierd...?"  
  
"Well, its a long story...." Ryoga said, a little embarassed.  
  
"Well, if you got the time to tell it, I got the time to hear it, 'snot like I got anything better to do" She said, heading over to a bench and sitting down.  
  
"Well umm...theres this training camp in China called Jusenkyo, and its got a bunch of springs filled with cursed water. I sort of fell in one of them, the spring of drowned pig, while I was following that evil cur Ranma. I don't know how or why Akane puts up with him, he's always calling her names-" He said, happy to forget about his current troubles for a while.  
  
"Whoa, Akane? Ranma? who are these people??" the girl interrupted.  
  
"Oh, well, Ranma is my rival, we train so that we can be strong enough to beat each other."  
  
"Haha, you mean like, fighting as in a video game right?"  
  
"Er, no, fighting as in martial arts"  
  
"Whoa, I didnt think anyone did that anymore. Hey thats pretty awesome! Who wins??"  
  
"Uhh...didn't you want to know who Akane is?", the girl nodded, "well Akane is the fiancé of Ranma, she deserves so much better than that jerk! The only thing he deserves is-" Explained Ryoga, trying not to let this girl know that he loses most of the time.  
  
"Ok, ok I get it, eh, thats pretty cool, so like, you can change into a pig? How does that work?", interrupted the girl once again.  
  
"Cold water changes me into a pig and hot into me", he explained.  
  
"Haha, that's a pretty awesome story, it must never get boring around here eh?....Name?", the girl asked, smiling, "mines Nuriko Shinjuko".  
  
"Ryoga Hibiki, nice to meet you", Ryoga told her, smiling as well, showing off that cute little fang of his (A/N: Weeeeeee! I love that lil fang!! Heehee...ok time for the shutting up of me).  
  
"Hey, um, where were you planning on going? I mean, I saw you about to leave and was just you know, wondering..." Nuriko asked.  
  
"Well, I was just going to find a place to sleep since I don't really have anywhere." Ryoga explained.  
  
"Oh. Well, do you mind if I come with? I'm sort of on the move..."  
  
"Uh, ok. I guess it would be nice to have some company for once, let's get going then. If you don't mind me asking, I mean.do you live around here?"  
  
"Naw, I live somewhere like.not here, I sort of ran away.two weeks ago.I've just been, you know, walking." She said indifferently. "I sound really stupid don't I?" *smiles*  
  
"Uh, no not really. So, you don't mind sleeping in a tent I don't mind the company, really."  
  
"Tent.tent! You have a tent?! That's awesome!*sparkle sparkle*"  
  
"Er, well yeah, you sort of need one, anyway, we better get it set up."  
  
"What are you talking about? You don't NEED one, I mean, I've been sleeping on floors and trees and roofs and.umm yeah lets just get it set up."  
  
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Wheeeeeeeeeee!!! Done once again, Nuriko is my friend, haha, I surprised her, she didn't think I could capture her character this well :P Anyway, yeah.I'll see you all next chapter, if there is one.dun dun dun..um yeah, I'll prolly continue anyway, I just really want more reviews, no reviews make Jo sad.and sad Jo doesn't write. 


	6. A Dream

I wanna thank everyone who reviewed me :P specially a (I remember ur review, it really helped me before thx!), EvanEVANeVaN(yes, I'm acknowledging you), Arinson Tidochi, I got around to reviewing theatre playground : P, and last but not least Rudy, reviews make me happy.So yeah, I've been having a bit of trouble writing lately, I can write but I don't really feel it, so in result my stuff is lame and cheesy. ,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,  
  
The air was crisp and cool from the earlier shower. The silence was broken by a sharp, cheerful laugh coming from the local park. (A/N: Time to investigate!...heehee...)  
  
Ryoga was sitting cross-legged by the fire. The way he was making his body smaller than it should be showed that he was feeling a little overwhelmed. Not uncomfortably overwhelmed, in fact, he was loving it, he hadn't been in real contact with anyone for so long he had forgotten how good it felt. He quietly added to his previous words and the already giggling girl sitting beside him burst into new laughter, falling backwards so that she was lying back on the ground shaking with laughter, and gripping her sides. Ryoga shrank a little smaller and blushed bright red, smiling wider that he had in a looong time. He even began to chuckle a bit himself.  
  
"Phhahahahaha! H-hey man, haha, where did you grow up? Hahaha, you sound so formal!" Nuriko burst out between fits of giggles.  
  
"Umm, Gomen..."  
  
The girl suddenly sat up and stared him straight in the eyes with an odd yet serious look on her face. Seconds passed in silence....  
  
"There's something wrong isn't there?", she said in a surprisingly calm voice. She was still staring at him and he felt a little attacked.  
  
"Ehehehe, n-no why do you say that?", Ryoga said, quite unconvincingly, with the sweating, his hand being behind his head and the fake smile plastered on his face. Nuriko sweatdropped, "er...right...well I can tell that something is wrong....You know," Nuriko laid back on the grass and looked at the sky, "I've always loved the night. Everything is so dark and calm...daylight is so scrutinizing.", she turned her head to look at Ryoga and smiled, "Get it over with man, fix whatever is bothering you, it can't be that bad."  
  
Ryoga looked at her face for a moment, then sighed and laid back on the grass as well, "What would you do if...if you did something horrible to someone you love and...you didn't know if they could ever forgive you?"  
  
Nuriko returned her gaze to the stars, "Well, you can't really run away and never look back can you? If you do...you would never know what could have happened, the question...it would plague you for the rest of your life, "What could have happened?"  
  
Ryoga turned his head to look at her, *I like this girl, she's different. I feel like I can actually talk to her, and I'm not always stuttering like I am with Akane...I wonder why she's wandering around alone... *, he continued to watch her gazing at the stars for a minute or two then returned his own gaze to the sky.  
  
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There was that sound again, the one that has bothered him with it's ominousness since he had woken from that dream... It sounded like a sheet, or multiple sheets, being moved across another one. He listened harder to try to figure out were it was coming from, but he was pretty groggy, plus the fact that he was presently lying down made directional hearing quite difficult. Ranma got up from his futon and quietly shuffled out to the hall. There he stopped and closed his eyes, concentrating on that sound and the ki of the person making it.  
  
There. Akane's room. Her ki was resonating with fright. *Heh, prolly havin' a bad dream...nothing to worry about*, but it still nagged at him. He thought for a moment *She'll kill me if she find out I was in her room, and Kami knows I have enough bruises from that time back on at the canal..*, then he heard a whimper, not a very loud one, but easily heard in this kind of silence. The kind of whimper someone makes before they're about to start crying. Resolute, he made his way quickly to her door, he paused for a moment, preparing himself for any physical harm that may come his way in the next few minutes.  
  
He gently opened the door and stepped in, Akane was tossing and turning, her blankets askew, some falling off the bed as if fleeing from the damage Akane was inflicting upon them. He moved closer and noticed she was shaking. *She's prolly cold, the heater's broken again, plus the lack of blankets can't be making her any warmer*, Ranma thought as he moved forward with the intent of fixing her blankets. He noticed her cheeks were gleaming slightly, as if they were wet... *She's...she's crying...*  
  
"Don't...no don't....it...it wasn't......", Akane began to mumble, still shaking, but this time with sobs as well, "....NO!", she screamed and began so hiccup. Ranma leaned down beside her and shook her slightly, trying to wake her but he was still afraid of what would happen when she woke up and saw him in her room.  
  
Akane turned over so that was facing Ranma, and her eyes fluttered open. Many emotions crossed her face at that moment, confusion at the sight of Ranma, anger because he was in her room, realization that he was worried about her, and then...well....  
  
"Ranma!", she cried, sitting up and trowing her arms around his neck, "I was..so afraid...Ryoga he...he", everything else after that was incohesive because she was sobbing into his shirt. She burried her face deeper into the crook of his neck in search of warmth. Ranma slowly adjusted to the intimacy of the situation and put his arms around her, trying to calm her down. Akane's sobs slowly subsided and she relaxed in his arms, she began to slump back and Ranma knew she was falling asleep. He held her like that until he was sure she was asleep, then layed her back down on her bed, tucking her sheets neatly around her.  
  
Ranma stood up and walked toward the door, quietly opening it. He stopped and turned around to look at his fiance one more time. *She's so cute like that...maybe sometime soon I'll get around to tellin' her that...or not.* He thought, exiting the room and shutting the door quietly behind him.  
  
He made his way down to the dojo to do some katas, he needed to think and he doubted sleep would come to him after all that had just happened.  
  
,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_,_, Yay, another chapter done. I'm not sure about why Nuriko is wandering around yet, have any suggestions? Just reminding all who might have forgotten, reviews make me work faster, and pess, please refrain from reviewing more than once. 


	7. What Happened?

Yes, I know it's been a while, but hey! I'm not to blame for the fact that lack of reviews makes me cranky, plus I've been really busy with school. Thanks goes out to all who reviewed me, plus, a big, big thank you goes to Ariston Tidochi for all the useful coments he gave me.  
  
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*Man, what am I going to do about this?* Ranma thought as he fluidly preformed a back flip, landing neatly on his feet a moment later. *She seems so upset, but I doubt she would-* he punched the air in front of him, drops of sweat flying off his hand as the forward motion of the punch stopped suddenly, then performed a wide roundhouse, *but she probably won't talk to me about it...even so..*, he slipped back into his confidently lazy offensive stance, *maybe I should try anyway*. Ranma continued his assault against the oxygen surrounding him with sets of movements preformed so naturally you would think his bones were made of rubber. His muddled thoughts were sorted into place and he had decided. He relaxed and looked at the clock mounted on the dojo's wall, *It's pretty late...I know I'm not going to get any sleep at all tonight, so I'll just go up to her room, just to check if she's awake, then, if she is I'll ask her about it.*  
  
Armed with this new resolve he turned toward the door, and froze. *Aww man*, yes man, standing in the doorway, clad in the ducky pyjamas he endlessly loved, was Akane. It was still dark out, and she looked quite sleepy, but within the depths of her eyes he read something that he didn't know how to deal with. She was scared.  
  
It took him a moment to force himself to say something, "A-Akane?" *Great, now that I've managed to say her name...*  
  
"Ranma...I-I can't sleep, It's like a haze of... of everything and I can't...I can't...", Akane looked at him from the doorway, tears welling up in her eyes. All Ranma could do was look at her.  
  
*Come one Saotome, say something you idiot!*, "I-I see...umm" *Ugh, you jerk!! I meant something that wouldn't make her feel stupid*.  
  
"Never mind, forget it... I-I didn't mean to bother you...I'm sorry", she said, looking at the ground, her shoulders shaking slightly, her hair shielding her face from view. She slowly backed out of the dojo and began running across the lawn towards her room.  
  
"W-wait Akane", but she didn't, she kept going. "Ah, fuck." Ranma muttered as he rushed after her, wanting to make her understand that he was worried about her, that he was dying to know what she was feeling, what had happened the other day at the park, but not being able to say it.  
  
He reached her just as she was about to step into the house. He wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her back against him, burying his face in her hair impulsively. As she sunk to her knees, he went down with her. They knelt like that for a few moments, and realizing that it was now or never, Ranma's brain switched into able-to-talk mode. "Akane, tell me what's wrong."  
  
Feeling his arms wrap around her let out a craving to be comforted. She pulled his arms tighter around her body and leaned back against him. She began to speak, her voice being broken once in a while when she would wait for her voice to steady itself.  
  
"That morning, I was mad at you, and... and when I saw Ryoga there, I- I..." she stopped, as if embarrassed or afraid to continue.  
  
"You what?", Ranma whispered into her ear gently.  
  
"I wanted to be able to talk to someone who... disliked you, so that I could relate." She said her voice becoming clearer and steadier. Ranma tensed slightly at this, but decided not to make a fuss, and remained silent. "But, I saw that he seemed to be tensed up so I decided to ask him what was wrong. When...when I touched his shoulder, it was like an insane burst of feelings, feelings of the like that I never want to have. Feelings like...like I would never be wanted or loved, that everything-." She stopped there, not wanting to continue, not wanting to relive those moments.  
  
"They came so fast that I couldn't process them properly. My mind was bursting, and I think that's when I fainted... but I woke up, and I saw you beating Ryoga...part of me wanted to stop you, but my other wanted to get away, far, far away. I walked down to the canal, my mind still going crazy with thoughts that weren't my own, and sat down, trying to understand what had happened to me, but I couldn't, I still can't. Anyway, it started raining, so I moved under the bridge, and there I fell asleep. I had this dream, P-chan was in it, I wonder what that was about...", she stopped there or a moment, trying to figure it out, while Ranma fought to contain him sudden urge to laugh. "And then, all of a sudden it felt like I was falling, and I looked down and there was water. I couldn't swim, I was so scared, and just as I was about to hit its surface, you pulled me back.  
  
"When I realized it was you, my mind went berserk, I don't know what it was, but I couldn't stand the sight of you. Maybe that was the remains of whatever Ryoga did to me, I-I don't know, Ranma...what happened t-to me?" at this she broke into tired sobs.  
  
*She must be exhausted...*, Ranma thought, then pulled her tighter into his arms, feeling a strange urge to reassure her, and began shushing her gently.  
  
"We'll take you to Tofu's place tomorrow, for now you should get some rest." he said once she had calmed down a little.  
  
Akane sighed and relaxed against him, snapping him out of the able-to- talk mode he had been in. He began blushing fiercely and remained silent for a few moments.  
  
He became aware of whispering, and when he looked in the sound's direction, he saw a video recorder's lens. His blood ran cold and then anger boiled up within him. He began shouting profanities in the video recorder's direction and low and behold, Nabiki, Kasumi, Soun and Genma revealed themselves, Nabiki looking quite smug.  
  
"I wonder how big of a fortune this will fetch", she said, ejecting the tape and slipping it into her pocket.  
  
"They have finally accepted their love for each other! Congratulations Saotome!" Soun cried, tears streaming down his face.  
  
"Well now, I guess my son DOES have some woman sense in him." Genma said, his chest puffing out proudly.  
  
Both Ranma and Akane stood up and screamed, at the exact same time.  
  
" YOU IDIOTS!!!"  
  
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Buahahahaha!! Didn't you just loooove the ending?? I didn't feel like making it dreary and boring, plus, I already did a Ranma in Akane's room scene. I love you all!! 


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